9.15.2014

Actually, as it turns out, I have 25 square feet of space. I thought a 4 by 4 square measurement meant 4 square feet. Doubly wrong; my footprint is a 5 by 5 square. Math. I haz it. Also, there is no way in hell this feels like 25 square feet of space. Disbelief. I haz it.

During the Project Sewn hullabaloo, when I was frantically sewing in every spare minute I could find, I promised a peek into my tiny New York apartment sized "studio", which lives in the corner of our living room. The absence of a door means I keep it pretty neat--though to be honest, if I had doors, it would still stay fairly controlled. I can't work in mess, it's like the clutter seeps into my head and laughs at my puny efforts to ignore it.

The grandaddy of my setup is my standing drafting desk. I found these old school (literally, old high school) guys years ago at the online site of an LA vintage store. The proprietor liked my New York vibe, and sent me two desks, completely disassembled, for a thousand bucks. Including shipping. That's kind of bananas. He taped numbers to each part and I hammered and screwed them back together like a jigsaw, all by myself. There were 50 parts for each desk. GO ME.

Ruggy & I stand side by side at our identical desks, him typing away, me sewing away. Though the contents of my drawers are considerably more colorful. What can I say, it's in the genes.

I'm well aware of the laughable state of my stash. Having seen some truly magnificent collections in person, I'm not sure you can call this a stash. Or perhaps, this is a stash, akin to some furtive junkie's little habit hidden away in a corner, the precious, and those of you with shelves of yardage and freshly peeled grapes, well, you've got a BOUNTY. And my neverending jealousy.

To the side of this magnificent stack lives patterns I'm currently working on, pressing roll, swedish tracing paper (which is glorious), my ironing board, my wolfie dress form (also glorious, she rolls out when I'm working) and a By Hand London tote stuffed with pieces of PIPs. Handy for when I'm working on eighteen things at once and need to find a missing part...

Up top are technicolor writing instruments in questionable cans.

And serious ceramics. My favorite jar! All the way from Italy, and brattily secured from Mommaballoona, it survived my childhood and hopes to survive my adult years. I snag ceramics from my travels, the little white jar with my most used tools is from Dallas, the floral coaster (which usually holds a fancy libation) hails from LA.

The high ceiling helps with the small space, though I'm not using it for much else than a lofty feeling. The walls are decked with photography from Mama Ruggy, embroidery from Mommaballoona, and fingerpainting from my nephew, the next Picasso (sans the ear stuff). [ETA: VAN GOGH! What. I was just making sure y'all were actually reading the copy. WELL DONE.]

Kai. Pride of place.

Apparently there is a decent amount of disbelief surrounding the continued existence of these chocolate bars. Yes, we are just that disciplined. Also, I have restocked the Mint, Brown Butter, and Sea Sat bars an undetermined number of times.

You know what's awesome? Ruggy, are you listening? You'd better be, I switched to Proper Capitalization for you... IKEA. IKEA IS AWESOME. My other half frowns upon that Swedish Giant. But IKEA been berryberry good to me. Stash shelf, desk shelf, orange magnetized doodad holder (guarded by Toulouse, thankya Lisette!) and desk lamp were all acquired at the Orange n Blue Beast. My zippers are arranged on the three knobs by invisible, separating, and short. Little tins hold ball point and silk pins.

And finally, the Crowning Achievement and Undying Disaster... like Yin and Yang, like Cain and Abel, like Whiskey n Coke (people, don't sully good alcohol with soda).... the machines. In the left corner! Weighing in at 15 pounds! The Elna Pro 5 DC! Ready to horribly maim me at any moment! Seriously guys. Thing One never really worked in the first place, and when she does work, it's because she thinks today will be the day she gets to kill me.

She won't even do knits anymore. YOU HAD ONE JOB. I'm in the market.

However, the sight of my Pfaff makes it all okay. Good lord I love that machine. I actually literally kiss her on the hood several times a week. Lean right over, and kiss her. Which reminds me, Lucille "Baller" Tiptronic is due for her three month review post...

Well! Did you think it possible to require SEVENTEEN PICTURES to get an idea of my tiny space? And I didn't even show you the windowsill! Obviously, my snap happy fingers betray me. Though I dream of a studio with big french doors and a cutting table, I still adore it. Et vous? Happy with your space?

ah yes! the foot pedal is indeed on the floor, but i do occasionally pull that stool out and prop the foot pedal up on an empty wine box. (naturally.) takes some getting used to but it's better than sitting for a full on weekend bender!

I love sewing spaces posts more than life itself! And yours doesn't disappoint at all... So organized and colorful. But srsly, that can't be your total stash because I ZOOMED IN and still don't see the orange and blue sequined glory. Unless that means it's being cut???

adorable! I feel so gluttonous with all my space after seeing how you make it work in a NYC apartment! well done lady :) and those desks? to die for!!! one day I'll have to shoot my space, but it's always mid-tornado!

WOW! Your desks seller might be the coolest seller I've ever heard of. That's a great story. And, they are great desks. Thanks for the peek into your sewing space. I love getting ideas from other sewists, particularly when it comes to storage! I catalog my fabrics in a very similar way. I love being able to scroll to a section and pick out the cards for every fabric in my stash of a certain yardage and content. It's awesomesauce. But, DAMN, is it a lot of work. :-D

Awesome space! You should do a post on sewing while standing. I'd love to try that but I have strange balance and I am afraid I will fall over....ha ha! But maybe I'll just have to try it and see.

BTW- I love your stash! My stash isn't that large at the moment either and I'm determine not to buy anything more until I sew at least a third of it. Must be the Type A personality. But what is that pretty blue and brown fabric on the second shelf! It is giving me a serious case of the "I wants" :-)

Ahh so pretty, so colourfull! I need to employ you to do mine, you sure know how to make a small space count! I'm off to brood about my messy sewing nest and how to make it better ( I suspect a trip to ikea is on the cards :)

I love it! I have a whole room and I'm less organized. I feel the sudden need for an IKEA trip and organizing... Must live up to standards. Those tables are gorgeous! A real table makes a huge difference :)

Oh I lurve that sewing space. But I don't think I would get any sewing done there. I would just be walking around touching and peering and feeling and sniffing all the glorious colours and fabric lovelies. I also got a little distracted as soon as you wrote the words, 'for real'. My new American child adds this to every sentence she says, makes me laugh.

Such a pretty space, and I absolutely love the light coming from your window! If you're like me, friends and family see your stash and think it is HUGE (they don't believe me that others have far more fabrics). I'm loving the Uncle Joe's Mint Balls Keep You All Aglow can! Reminds me of a magnet I bought in London: Bile Beans, for a lovely figure and radiant health. Old ads are the best.

Good timing honeybun, as the WSBN is doing a sewing space tour, and I think we kinda in our hearts wish you were a member. I take great comfort from now knowing our apartments share such things as high ceilings. Tho my space is on a mezzanine so it doesn't have the soaring glory. Bedroom does though! And our bathroom (with no bath, just a shower) is about the size of your sewing space. :)

Yup! We fell hard for this place on our first visit and signed the offer papers right there and then. Never a moment's regret! In a city of bland new apartment buildings designed for people who do no cooking or sewing or reading or..anything except maybe shower given the number of shower rooms some of those places have, it is a gem!

Your sewing corner reminds me a bit of mine although yours is infinitely more colourful! Clearly I have some work to do. Also, you should be pleased with your small stash. Mine is out of control, and although magnificent, mocks me with what I Have Not Yet Made every time I see it. And it's always making me feel guilty for buying more fabric. Surely an incentive to keep things manageable. Thanks for showing us around your space!

IKEA is the shiz. Almost every piece of furniture in my house is from IKEA. I have a desk that is 10 years old and still standing; although, it may only have one more disassemble-reassemble cycle left in it.

I think your stash is the appropriate size for someone who is one train stop away from the garment district! Seriously don't think I would own 1/2 of what I do if I lived so close to such fabric wonderfulness! Love, love the space. It totally reflects your personality.

Beautiful! I love how colourful and happy your work-space is, so you :). Right now I sew on a combination of a discarded desk in the corner of my living room (in front of the closet with all of my supplies in it), and the dining room table for prep and cutting. But, But! I just bought a (somewhat run down, but totally fixable) house with 4, count them 4, bedrooms. With just me and the fella to fill them all up with our massive space consuming hobbies! So I will have a nice cool basement room all to myself for sewing and knitting and cackling maniacally late at night *hehehe*. All the painting and pretty curtain making and obsessive organizing still to come :).

As all good creative types, I love workspace posts! I'm in the process of making one for myself and the other wannabes in the house (goodbye corner of my bedroom!) Unlike you, I'm not at all organized, but you have inspired me to take pictures anyway. I'll just push the junk from side to side depending on the angle I'm taking pictures from lol.

Wahou, your sewing space is so neat and so organised ! I love all the colors ! For your stash, I'm impress by you being able to resist to the garment district ! Living at 20 min from a fabric market, I find it very very difficult to resist...As a knit dress lover, I'm sorry for your serger that doesn't do knit anymore !I'll keep your idea of the trim in ziploc bag :) I'm happy with my space, I just have add height and weels to my norden cutting table and change the table I'm sewing on. As for my stash, hum hum...

I am so super jealous of everyone with their own sewing area and yours is just beautiful! So colourful and vibrant and just... UGH! SUCH JEALOUSY.I currently whip out my (£25 winter sales toy) sewing machine onto the dining room table every time I want to make something, and every time my mother huffs "well, we won't be eating at the table any time soon". I have been informed, however, if I tidy up the conservatory I can turn THAT into a sewing room, I'll be needing many a cardigan/jumper/eskimo style coat in the winter for sewing in there.

My space is overflowing with my stash. And it's messy. I really have to do something about that.IKEA is quite good, as these things go. They have an interesting fabric selection, too. And good pots and plates and mugs, which does not have much to do with sewing; but good pots can mean shorter cooking time and longer sewing time. Yes.Oh and the square thing? It's like drawing a square consisting of squares. Drawing a square on graph paper. A square with five units on each side consists of twenty-five squares. Like that; you can draw it for yourself and count it if you don't believe me.Foot is a laughable measurement, so 25 square feet? Laughable. Belief, I haz it. Now, 25 square meters of sewing space, that would be something.

Inches can be useful, though; although in my opinion, not as a sewing / clothing measurement, too large. :D But my father the engineer is actually rather fond of inches, saying something along the lines of it being just the right measure for some things. So there's that.

Draw it, I entreat you. Graph paper is fun. You can play games on graph paper, too.

Thank you for sharing! I love what you've done with your tiny space. I believe I have a slightly smaller space, and when I get it cleaned up I'll have to share it as well. I love how you've photographed yours! Very inspiring.

I forgot about that card! Your space is delightful and so very you! I need to halt on the sewing and get on the home-dec'ing and get mine up to par. If only the landlord didn't require everything to stay BEIGE.

Does your sewing space get messy when you are working on a project? Do you carry loose threads around the house on your socks or slippers? Is there a scrap trail from your sewing space to your kitchen? Maybe if I kept chocolate in my sewing room, these problems would not loom so large for me? Thanks for the tour!

Way to work it lady! It's nice to see how you work a small space because us apartment dwellers need to be creative with what we have. I'm always jealous of photos of big sewing spaces (bitches! j/k) but in a small space you know where everything is and it is carefully curated.We seem to have an oddly similar tendency for neatness and a bag that holds works in process (mine is a shopping bag from Paris).

I love your sewing space! So bright and cheerful! (And organized.) I really want to master working in small spaces but I'm not quite there yet... I sew in the downstairs living room, which is not a bad setup, apart from the lack of natural light past 8 am. I dream of a well lit, well organized, and perpetually tidy space but that day is clearly not this day...

Yay finally someone who likes to have a tidy sewing room, coz otherwise it gets inside my brain and confuses it and I get sewing block, until I tidy. Here in NZ the WSBN are doing a blog tour of all our sewing rooms, and I seem to be the only freak with the tidy sewing room! You have such pretty fabrics in your stash - I just wanna sit here a stare .... :-)

i am in love with this sewing room, and the chocolate, and the zodiac embroidery, and and...... And I feel the same about my serger, I hate her and I know she's plotting to kill me. I'm glad I'm not alone in this. XO

This is SUCH an inspiration. I live in NYC myself; I currently am in one bedroom of a 3 bedroom apartment. I'm moving from Queens to Manhattan soon and into a place with my boyfriend. But that means a whole 1 bedroom apartment to find a nook for my stuff, not just sewing on my computer desk (yes, i do, yes, it's horrible). This is like... just everything I need to be able to visualize how I can pull off a sewing space. What do you use to hold your fabrics? Is it just a standing shelving unit? Where did you get it? Curious!

look how fabulously neat your sewing corner is! i envy that! i don't even have the permanent sewing nook, but use my dining table when i sew, my bed or floor when i cut fabric, and whatever free space around the house to hold my fabrics, scraps, and all those other sewing thingies (and billion burda magazines)..

The first pic opened slowly on my pc- it's old- unfurling that gorgeously glowing yellow curtain slowly then adding the beauty of everything else. You have a fabulous sewing corner! My stash is bigger, but can I find what I want when I want it? Hells no. That takes some time! So I sort of organize in those moments, and sometimes get distracted (like the dog in the movie Up- instead of Squirrel! its Stripes! Swirls! Flowers! oooh I wonder where that electric blue jersey was...) Mine too lives mostly in a corner of the livingroom, but with some stashed away in my bedroom closet, and even some under the kitchen table. I could organize, but then when would I create? Not enough time for both!

What I'm jealous of is that your stash is on open shelves so you can actually see what you've got. Mine's in a six-drawer chest stuffed so full that it's almost impossible to open the drawers to get anything in and out. Although it does mean that when I'm looking through it all and find some fabric I'd forgotten about it's like getting a present for no reason, which is always great.

I love your sewing space! I used to have a wall in the dining room to myself. Thank heavens for horn sewing cabinets! But then we moved to a bigger house because (and no you can't have him although yours seems pretty cool too) my husband said we needed a house with a sewing room. We lost a bathroom, gained two spare rooms and woot I suddenly have a sewing room ALL TO MYSELF. it's crazy cool.

In my dreams though I am stupid greedy and long for space for a cutting table. But you know - there is nothing wrong with the kitchen bench and the dining table for cutting. And I do have - mahoosive design wall for quilting. And I got rid of my mannequin because she had a lard arse that was just taking up room. Also she and I weren't really the same shape so she was batshit useless really.

I am going to use this post as inspiration on how to get more bang for my buck from my walls. I see a trip to ikea Sydney very soon ...